24 Commonwealth Avenue

20-36 Commonwealth Avenue

24 Commonwealth Avenue was designed by Gridley Bryant and Arthur Gilman, architects, and built ca. 1861, one of nine contiguous houses (20-22-24-26-28-30-32-34-36 Commonwealth).  In his Houses of Boston’s Back Bay, Bainbridge Bunting calls the group “one of the most imposing compositions in the whole district.”

24 Commonwealth was built as the home of Samuel George Snelling and his wife, Eleanor (Paul) Snelling.  He is shown as the owner on the 1874 Hopkins map, and Elizabeth Snelling is shown as the owner on the 1883 Bromley map.

Samuel Snelling was a wholesale merchant and treasurer of the Lowell Bleachery and Dye Works.

The Snellings continued to live at 24 Commonwealth in 1885.

By 1888, it was the home of lawyer and former US Circuit Court Judge John Lowell and his wife Lucy Buckminster (Emerson) Lowell.  Willard C. Vanderlip, Trustee, is shown as the owner of 24 Commonwealth on the 1888 Bromley map.

John Lowell died in May of 1897, and Lucy Lowell moved soon thereafter.

In 1899, 24  Commonwealth was the home of Henry S. Russell and his wife Mary Hathaway (Forbes) Russell.  They also maintained a residence in Milton, Home Farm, where they were living at the time of the 1900 US Census.  He was former president of the Continental Telephone Company and, in 1900, served as a Fire Commissioner.

By 1900, 24 Commonwealth was the home of the John and Lucy Lowell's son, attorney John Lowell, Jr., and his wife, Mary Emlen (Hale) Lowell.

John Lowell, Jr., died in 1922.  Mary Lowell continued to live at 24 Commonwealth until about 1934.  The Heirs of John Lowell are shown as the owners on the 1928 Bromley map.

By 1934, 24 Commonwealth probably was owned by S. Clifford Speed.  He also appears to have owned 26 Commonwealth, possibly owning both houses with Mary F. McGill, whose name appears as the owner on several of the permits relating to both houses.  On the 1938 Bromley map, George B. Rittenberg et al, trustees, are shown as the owners of 24 Commonwealth, and S. Clifford Speed is shown as the owner of 26 Commonwealth. 

24 and 26 Commonwealth were converted into lodging houses in the mid-1930s, and remained as such for the next fifty years.

By 1963, Edward Swartz had acquired 22, 24, and 26 Commonwealth.  He operated all three properties as lodging houses until his death.

In December of 1983, Mary Elizabeth Brady, trustee of the Roebuck Trust, purchased 22-24-26 Commonwealth from Edward Swartz's Estate, and in April of 1984, James J. Devaney of Worcester purchased the properties from Mary Elizabeth Brady.  In January of 1985, he combined the three properties into a single property and to converted them into eight apartments.